Re : Will the ball reach C
Classical Mechanics
Level
2
.
Refer to the figure above. If a ball is released from rest at point A all surfaces are frictionless and the wall DC is elastic which of the following statements are true
The ball will be in SHM It will follow the path A-B-C-B-A and oscillate without stopping.
The ball will not reach the point C and will stop in the middle of BC.
The ball will not be able to climb the inclined plane BA on its way back after rebounding at C.
The ball will reach C and rebound from the wall and stop at B.
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1 solution
Since there is no loss of energy anywhere due to friction, the ball will oscillate indefenitely in SHM. It will traverse the path ABCBA indefenitely. The ball has PE at point A. This is converted to KE at B. From B to C the ball traverses the path with uniform velocity , does not lose energy while rebounding. At C the ball changes direction and reaches the point B with the same speed as before. Since energy is conserved the KE at point B is converted to PE while it reaches point A once again. This will continue for ever..